The History Boys triumphs at 2006 Tony Awards
Feature by Lizzie Guilfoyle
ALAN Bennett’s play The History Boys picked up six trophies – more than any other other show – at last night’s 60th Tony Awards Ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
They included: Best Play; Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play – for Richard Griffith who triumphed over fellow Brit Ralph Fiennes, nominated for Faith Healer; and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play – for Frances de la Tour.
The History Boys also won Best Direction of a Play – for the National Theatre’s Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner; Best Scenic Design of a Play – for Bob Crowley; and Best Lighting Design of a Play – for Mark Henderson.
However, in the category Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, it lost out to Jonathan Kent’s Gate Theatre, Dublin production of Faith Healer and actor Ian McDiarmid.
Another British success was John Doyle’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd which was seen at Newbury’s Watermill Theatre prior to its West and Broadway transfers.
Of its six nominations, it won Best Orchestrations – for Sarah Travis, and Best Direction of a Musical – for Doyle.
Elsewhere, the Canadian musical The Drowsy Chaperone took five awards (including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score); while Jersey Boys, the American musical about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, took four awards (including Best Musical).
Other notable winners include Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City’s Miranda) who won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her performance as a grieving mother in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole; and LaChanze who won Best Actress in a Musical for her role in The Color Purple.
And finally, the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre went to director Harold Prince whose work, both in the UK and US, includes The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Show Boat, Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Follies.